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News from the Oklahoma National Guard

Oklahoma Army National Guardsman, Spc. Evann Paulsen, member of 1st Battalion, 160th Field Artillery Regiment, 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, performs border operations along the Rio Grande in El Paso, Texas, August 16, 2023. Approximately 50 Soldiers and Airmen are assisting the Texas National Guard with border security by manning security points to identify and alert local law enforcement of any illegal immigrant or drug trafficking activities. The deployment is expected to last through the end of August with a follow-on deployment of an additional 50 Soldiers and Airmen sometime in 2024. (Oklahoma National Guard photo by Sgt. Reece Heck)

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Oklahoma Army National Guardsman, Spc. Evann Paulsen, member of 1st Battalion, 160th Field Artillery Regiment, 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, performs border operations along the Rio Grande in El Paso, Texas, August 16, 2023. Approximately 50 Soldiers and Airmen are assisting the Texas National Guard with border security by manning security points to identify and alert local law enforcement of any illegal immigrant or drug trafficking activities. The deployment is expected to last through the end of August with a follow-on deployment of an additional 50 Soldiers and Airmen sometime in 2024. (Oklahoma National Guard photo by Sgt. Reece Heck)

Oklahoma Army National Guard Soldiers, Spc. Blake Morgan (left), member of the 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, and Sgt. Chance Minter (right), member of the 45th Field Artillery Brigade, perform border operations along the Rio Grande in El Paso, Texas, August 16, 2023. Approximately 50 Soldiers and Airmen are assisting the Texas National Guard with border security by manning security points to identify and alert local law enforcement of any illegal immigrant or drug trafficking activities. The deployment is expected to last through the end of August with a follow-on deployment of an additional 50 Soldiers and Airmen sometime in 2024. (Oklahoma National Guard photo by Sgt. Reece Heck)

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Oklahoma Army National Guard Soldiers, Spc. Blake Morgan (left), member of the 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, and Sgt. Chance Minter (right), member of the 45th Field Artillery Brigade, perform border operations along the Rio Grande in El Paso, Texas, August 16, 2023. Approximately 50 Soldiers and Airmen are assisting the Texas National Guard with border security by manning security points to identify and alert local law enforcement of any illegal immigrant or drug trafficking activities. The deployment is expected to last through the end of August with a follow-on deployment of an additional 50 Soldiers and Airmen sometime in 2024. (Oklahoma National Guard photo by Sgt. Reece Heck)

Members of the Oklahoma National Guard, Spc. Darrell Casey (left), member of 1st Battalion, 160th Field Artillery Regiment, 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, and Staff Sgt. Patrick Sanchez (right), member of the 137th Special Operations Wing, perform border operations along the Rio Grande River, August 2, 2023. Approximately 50 Soldiers and Airmen are assisting the Texas National Guard with border security by manning security points to identify and alert local law enforcement of any illegal immigrant or drug trafficking activities. The deployment is expected to last through the end of August with a follow-on deployment of an additional 50 Soldiers and Airmen sometime in 2024. (Oklahoma National Guard photo by Sgt. Reece Heck)

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Members of the Oklahoma National Guard, Spc. Darrell Casey (left), member of 1st Battalion, 160th Field Artillery Regiment, 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, and Staff Sgt. Patrick Sanchez (right), member of the 137th Special Operations Wing, perform border operations along the Rio Grande River, August 2, 2023. Approximately 50 Soldiers and Airmen are assisting the Texas National Guard with border security by manning security points to identify and alert local law enforcement of any illegal immigrant or drug trafficking activities. The deployment is expected to last through the end of August with a follow-on deployment of an additional 50 Soldiers and Airmen sometime in 2024. (Oklahoma National Guard photo by Sgt. Reece Heck)

OKLAHOMA CITY –

Fifty Oklahoma National Guard members who deployed to the U.S.-Mexico border in support of the Texas Military Department’s Operation Lone Star returned to Oklahoma on Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2023.

Comprising both Army National Guard Soldiers and Air National Guard Airmen, the Oklahoma National Guard members were stationed at security points alongside Texas National Guard members to help identify and report suspicious activities related to illegal immigration and drug trafficking to local law enforcement and U.S. Border Patrol.

Video by Sgt. Haden Tolbert

Thunderbird Challenge Program teaches cadets no obstacle too big to overcome

Oklahoma National Guard

Oct. 25, 2024 | 1:23

The Thunderbird Challenge Program is a 22-week tuition-free military program for Oklahoma students in need of school credit recovery. The program uses the structure and discipline of the military to support cadets while they attend high school classes, GED classes as well as learn job skills and life coping skills.

While at Camp Gruber Training Center, Thunderbird cadets took on the same obstacle course that Soldiers taking part in Air Assault School, best warrior competitions and pre-mobilization training face.

The cadets also faced off with one another in pugil stick bouts supervised by TCP cadre, and some cadets had the opportunity to rappel from CGTC’s 40-foot rappel tower. (Oklahoma National Guard video by Sgt. Haden Tolbert)

CG:
00:15:08
Traci Johnson
Commandant of Cadets, Thunderbird Challenge Program

00:34:27
Marissa Treat
Thunderbird Challenge Program Cadet